The present invention relates generally to the field of firearms, and in particular to a new and useful buffer assembly for an automatic or semi-automatic rifle that delays the cycling rate and smoothes recoil of the rifle.
Controlling and ameliorating the adverse effects of recoil in an automatic carbine or rifle, has been an ongoing endeared for firearms designers since the creation of such weapons. Many of these efforts concentrate on improving a buffer assembly for such weapons.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,011 discloses a buffer assembly having a plurality of inertial masses acting in delayed sequence to oppose bolt rebound. The recoil assembly has a longitudinal cavity housing an elongated mass segmented into a plurality of coaxial weights spaced apart by washers having a low coefficient of restitution, the weights having a lost motion connection with each other and with the recoil assembly to apply their respective inertias in a delayed sequence to oppose rebound of the bolt assembly from its battery position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,909,002 discloses a buffer assembly for use with firearms such as the M16 rifle, for reducing the cyclic rate of firing during full-automatic operation. The buffer assembly includes a unit to stop the bolt carrier at a desired full-recoil position, and a mass movable relative to that unit. When the bolt carrier stops at full-recoil, inertia causes the mass to continue moving rearwardly while further compressing the action spring. The action spring then returns that mass forwardly to contact the fixed portion of the buffer assembly, returning the bolt carrier to battery position. The bolt carrier remains at rest in recoil while the moveable weight slides rearwardly and then returns forwardly relative to the bolt carrier, thereby increasing the cycle time of firing and correspondingly reducing the cyclic rate of fire for the firearm.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,367 discloses a hydraulic bolt buffer for a firearm including a receiver having a longitudinal chamber, a bolt and carrier assembly mounted in the chamber for reciprocating movement between a recoil position and a battery position, a spring for urging the buffer into contact with the bolt and carrier assembly for movement therewith and for biasing the bolt and carrier assembly toward the battery position. Since a fluid tight seal is relied upon, any leak of this seal would compromise the performance of this buffer assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,296,984 discloses a spring enhanced buffer for a firearm having a sleeve member having an open end and a closed end. A mass is contained within the sleeve member. This mass is chosen to meet the demands of the particular firearm. A bumper secures and seals the open end of said sleeve. A spring within the sleeve maintains the mass at a predetermined location when the buffer is in an at-rest position.
A need remains, however, for improving the buffer assembly of an automatic or semi-automatic firearm, with an effective, tunable, weather accommodating and long lasting buffer assembly that will function in a wide variety of shooting and weather conditions and that can be easily adjusted by a user for shooting conditions, preferences and styles.